Legislative Branch - Slavery

Congress wrote a number of laws regarding slavery in the years between the ratification of the Constitution and the beginning of the Civil War. Included in these were the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, which protected the rights of the slave owner, the importation of slaves into the country was banned as of January 1, 1808, and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 ensured that for each slave state that was added to the union there would be a corresponding free state.